NU defense striving to atone for horrible 2011

'Our guys are not pleased with how they played; we were not happy with how we coached'

August 22, 2012|By Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune reporter

Northwestern's defense produced very little good, tons of bad and a whole lot of ugly last season.

Sample these stats: The Wildcats yielded 6.1 yards per play, 2,995 passing yards, a 50 percent third-down-conversion rate and had only 17 quarterback sacks. Northwestern finished either last in the Big Ten or were edged out by Indiana in all of those categories.

NU coach Pat Fitzgerald sarcastically said he used the "positive talk and wonderful articles" as offseason motivation.

"And I don't blame you," he told reporters. "You get what you deserve — everything that was said about the guys. And they took it personally.

"The great news is I'll be done talking about that crap here in like a week. Hopefully we show up (at Syracuse on Sept. 1) and play."

Last year's first five Big Ten games were a disaster. The Wildcats gave up 38 points to Illinois, 42 to Michigan, 41 to Iowa, 34 to Penn State and 38 to Indiana. In parts of some games, the secondary didn't know if it was in man or zone coverage.

Then the Wildcats shocked Nebraska by holding the Cornhuskers to 122 rushing yards, shut out Rice for 55 minutes and held Minnesota to 13 points.

"Our guys are not pleased with how they played," he said. "And we were not happy with how we coached them."

What will be different this season? Redshirt freshman Nick VanHoose has looked strong at cornerback, and safety Ibraheim Campbell has experience.

And Northwestern has emphasized harassing the quarterback.

"We'll do multiple things to create pressure," defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz said. "We have to be more aggressive with calls and more effective when we do rush. … We have to beat guys one-on-one. Other times we do have to bring more people."

The defensive linemen have been working with Jose-Jose Palma, a volunteer performance coach and mixed martial arts specialist.

"He taught us some hand combat," end Deonte Gibson said. "You might not always beat 'em off the edge with your speed, but you have to have hands."

Extra points: Even if he gets the majority of carries at tailback, Venric Mark will be NU's top return man. Fitzgerald: "In my opinion, he's the best kick and punt returner in the country. He has a lot of life in those legs." … Freshman tailback Malin Jones of Joliet Catholic has returned to practice after shoulder and dehydration issues. "Before you get here you think: 'Oh, man, I'm gonna be everything.' And then you get here and (being a) redshirt is a reality." … ESPN personality and NU alum Michael Wilbon spoke to the team briefly after practice Wednesday.